Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to ensure that people with type 1 diabetes have access to new diabetes technology.

In March 2022 the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended that all adults and children with type 1 diabetes should have access on the National Health Service to continuous glucose monitoring. Both intermittent and real-time Continuous Glucose Monitors (CGMs) are available to people with type one diabetes under the NHS. CGMs can be provided under NHS prescription and sensors collected from local pharmacies.

NICE is currently developing technology appraisal guidance, which considers clinical and cost effectiveness, on hybrid closed loop systems for managing blood glucose levels in people with type 1 diabetes.

In 2022/23, funding worth £36 million was allocated to integrated care boards, weighted by local levels of deprivation, to support more people to receive all recommended diabetes care processes, alongside other NHS Long Term Plan diabetes commitments. The Diabetes Programme national and regional teams monitor progress and provide support to systems through national guidance and clinical networks.